LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 282

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282

IX. REPORT OF THE RES. 5-14A TASK FORCE

clergy roster. However, he would still have a valid call to his place
of service.51 This could make for a difficult problem for the district
president and the congregation to resolve together. One of the conditions of membership is that congregations must call and be served
only by pastors on the Synod clergy roster.
After the Program: Limitations, Mobility, and General
Ministry Status
After completing the full four-year SMP program, the student has,
at present, several options:
•

•

•

He may remain on the roster as a specific ministry pastor permanently.
This means he will always be required to serve under the supervision
of a general ministry pastor (such as his mentor), and he is limited in
that he may not serve as a circuit visitor, as a delegate to a Synod convention, or as a supervisor to a vicar. Further, “he is eligible to serve
only in that specific ministry context for which he has been trained and
may not be offered or accept a call for ministry for which he has not
been certified as determined by his district president” (Bylaw 2.13.1).
That is, the specific ministry pastor is ineligible for calls to any other
kind of context unless he completes one of the following options.52
He may enroll in the master of divinity program of one of the two seminaries. By completing his SMP program, he will be eligible for MDiv
equivalents of certain course work. Earning the MDiv will require
additional residential time at the seminary, likely two years. Upon
earning the MDiv degree, he will be eligible for general ministry pastor status on the clergy roster and will be eligible to serve as a circuit
visitor, as a delegate to a Synod convention, and as a supervisor to a
vicar, as well as being eligible for call to a new location and being eligible to hold an elected or appointed office in the Synod or district
assigned by the Bylaws to a pastor.
He may enroll in the alternate route (AR) program of one of the two
seminaries. An AR certification (which does not include an academic
degree) may require residential time at the seminary, likely one year.
However, both seminaries also offer the AR certificate by distance
education and/or intensive courses on campus (requiring up to four
and a half or five years). A student earning the AR certificate receives
general pastor status on the clergy roster and is eligible to serve as a
circuit visitor, as a delegate to a Synod convention, and as a supervisor to a vicar, as well as being eligible for call to a new location.

Regarding the above, “After the Program,” the task force
notes the following:
Encouraging specific ministry pastors to further their training and
move to general pastor status should be a chief goal. The Synod’s
2013 resolution making continuing education mandatory for all pastors (Res. 5-08B, To Establish Standard for Continuing Education
of Pastors) underscores that the pastoral ministry requires more
than entry-level understand­ing and skills—beyond even the MDiv
degree and practical experience. The specific ministry pastor should
be encouraged to see his first step in continuing education to be the
MDiv or alternate route.
The Synod Bylaws indicate that a specific ministry pastor may not
move to a new call which is not somehow equivalent to the “specific
ministry context” for which he was first accepted into the program
and then certified “as determined by his district president.” What
constitutes such equivalence? The Synod has made clear that “the
district presidents not approve specific ministry sites which could
reasonably be expected to support a general pastor or sites where a
minister of religion—commissioned could fulfill the duties” (2013
Res. 5-04B). Therefore it seems apparent, for example, that a specific ministry pastor serving as an associate could not be called to be
sole or senior pastor of that same congregation, since that congregation had been able to support a general pastor (the previous senior
2016 Convention Workbook

pastor). What other guidelines should be established for appropriate
equivalent “specific ministry contexts”? The emphasis needs to be
on the ministry needs of the congregation.
Now we therefore proceed to the particulars of the following:
Recommendation 6—Specific Improvements Recommended
for the SMP Program
The task force recommends the following specific improvements for the SMP program be considered, either by the 2016
Synod in convention or the SMP Committee established by the 2013
convention, as appropriate.
1. The task force joins the Synod’s conventions of 2007, 2010, and 2013,
as well as the President’s SMP Task Force, in recommending that the
SMP pro­gram continue to be a distinct, recognized route to the ministry of the LCMS. It is ideally suited to provide certain ministry contexts
(e.g., congregations unable to afford a full-time pastor) with men who
do “aspire to the office” of pastor (1 Timothy 3:1), but for whom the
office of pastor will most likely not be their full-time, lifelong vocation. The 2016 convention and/or the Synod’s SMP Committee will
need carefully to consider the following recommendations:
2. In keeping with the concept and purpose of the SMP program, the
task force strongly encourages district presidents to adhere carefully
to the guidelines of 2013 Res. 5-04B that specific ministry pastors not
be used at “sites which could reasonably be expected to sup­port a general pastor or sites where a minister of religion—commissioned could
fulfill the duties.” For example, a specific ministry pastor should serve
as a staff pastor at a congregation only when that congregation cannot support an additional pastor. Should the senior pastor leave that
congregation, the specific ministry pastor would ordinarily not be eligible to be called to be the sole pastor or senior pastor as long as the
congregation remained able to support one pastor. (For the specific
ministry pastor to become sole or senior pastor would also be inappropriate because that would be a different specific ministry context
than his certified context as assistant or associate.)
3. The task force recommends that the SMP Committee established by
2013 Res. 5-03E work closely with the Synod’s Council of Presidents
to clarify further other parameters that might constitute or limit
“specific ministry contexts.” The Synod needs to establish clearer
definitions and boundaries for these contexts, but recognizing also
the right of the congregation to govern its own internal affairs.
4. Specific ministry pastors are always to be under the supervision of a
general pastor, active or retired. The task force recommends that the
SMP Committee work closely with the Synod’s Council of Presidents
also to establish a mechanism to ensure ongoing supervision of the specific ministry pastor by a general pastor throughout the duration of his
calling as a specific ministry pastor (e.g., when the first mentor/supervisor accepts another call or retires), and clarify the duties of both the
supervising pastor and the district president once the student has completed the 16 courses of the SMP program. In other words, the nature
and expectations of this supervision need to be more clearly defined.
The Synod needs to assure itself that specific ministry pastors (because
of their level of education and experience) are both supervised and adequately supported in their work by an experienced general pastor.
5. Of crucial importance throughout the program is the supervising pastor/mentor. It is essential that the mentor pastor commit to actively
directing the student, not only in the practical activities of pastoral service but also in the academic work of his courses. Mentors should be
required to attend with the student at least the first on-campus experience for orientation and awareness of the course delivery process (just
as new vicarage supervisors in the residential programs are required
to attend a supervisors conference at one of the seminaries). Mentors
must be involved with their students in each academic course by regular activities as required in the course assignments (weekly journals
involving discussion questions with one’s mentor). The name of the
mentor/supervising pastor for each specific ministry pastor should be